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French Cameroun army kills 10 Boko Haram militants in repelled attack
Ten militants of terror group Boko Haram were killed when Cameroonian troops repelled a coordinated attack launched in the country’s Far North region, military sources said on Wednesday.
Weapons used by the terror group were also seized during the attacks that took place on Tuesday in Manawadji, a locality in the region.
“The terrorists came to attack the locality but were unaware of the presence of the army. The troops ambushed them and killed seven on the spot. A gun battle started and lasted for over three hours. Three others were killed in the process,” a senior military officer who asked not to be named said.
There have been no reports on casualties on the side of government forces.
On Saturday, at least five Cameroonian soldiers were killed by the militants in a fight in Soueram, another locality in the Far North region according to the army.
More than 2,000 people have been killed since Boko Haram launched attacks in the Far North since 2014, according to security reports.
Source: Xinhuanet
“Sisiku Julius Ayuk Tabe and his aides are not terrorists but freedom fighters”
Cameroon is going through the toughest moment of its life and the future looks bleak as the Central African country deals with multiple crises. The country’s economy is facing tough times and the level of employment is very high. But it is the Anglophone crisis that is the government’s toughest challenge. The country’s president, Paul Biya, recently addressed the nation and called for a national dialogue that should help the country heal. After the address, staff lady Chi Prudence Asong spoke with Dr. Joachim Arrey, a writer, who has continued writing on how the government could proceed to end the crisis that has resulted in the deaths of many people and he had this to say.
Cameroon Concord News: What is your impression about the president’s address to the nation?
Dr Arrey Jaochim: I think it was an opportunity to reassure Cameroonians. The address comes a bit too late, but better late than never. The president should have done this a lot earlier to spare the country and the international community the horror movie that has been playing out in the country’s two English-speaking regions for almost three years. The country’s economy has been hurt, many people have been displaced and thousands have lost their lives in a conflict that could have been prevented. However, I think we should be forward-looking. Many mistakes have been made, but I think the call for dialogue is an opportunity for Cameroonians to take a long and hard look at their country’s past to figure out how to address those issues that have brought untold hardship on the people. It is also an opportunity to address the Southern Cameroonian issue once and for all.
Cameroon Concord News: The dialogue has already begun as the Prime Minister has been receiving many delegations to obtain their views. It has been announced that the main event will start on 30 September. What do you think about the government’s approach?
Dr Arrey Joachim: I think the government is doing something, but the population is simply not happy with what it is doing. It is a good idea to receive opinions from political parties and traditional leaders, but it should be pointed out that Southern Cameroonians who have triggered this dialogue do no longer trust their politicians and traditional leaders, most of whom have escaped to East Cameroon as a result of the conflict. This conflict is born out of frustration and marginalization and the government should understand that certain measures need to be taken now to instil confidence in the English-speaking minority if it wants its dialogue not to end up as a deadlock. The truth is that those who have financed this revolution are living abroad and the best the government can do is to head to those countries and try to negotiate. The government itself has lost credibility and those living abroad will never take it seriously. The government needs to seek a mediator who must be impartial and objective to ensure that the country does not end up with a deadlock on its hand. That is why many people around the round still express fear and doubts as to the government’s sincerity in organizing a dialogue. The government seems to be playing the role of a judge and jury at the same time. I would advise that the United Nations be given a chance to play an important role so that Southern Cameroonians can feel that there is a neutral third party involved. If Mr. Biya really wants peace to return to Cameroon, then he must yield a lot of ground and must yield to calls for an international mediator.
Cameroon Concord News: But the president did also say that there was nobody to discuss with and that has been the issue facing the government for all these years.
Dr Arrey Joachim: I think Mr. Biya is frozen in time. He is of the opinion that he knows it all and the other Cameroonians are not smart enough to generate any good idea. If he had listened to many people just when the crisis started, we would not be where we are today. If he had addressed the nation using the right words at the beginning of the crisis, more than 2,000 lives would have been spared. Saying that he cannot find someone to dialogue with only makes him sound ridiculous. He seems to be looking for a solution that is already in his bedroom. As far as Southern Cameroonians are concerned, Julius Ayuk Tabe is their president and a poster boy of the rebellion. Besides Julius Ayuk Tabe, there are many other leaders in jail. If ?r: Biya were serious about this dialogue which I am considering as a deadlock, he would grant general amnesty to all those arrested during the crisis as well as people living abroad who have been directly or indirectly linked to the crisis. This will not only be a goodwill gesture, but a clear signal that he wants things to return to normal. History is littered with stories of people who have negotiated for their groups while in jail. Nelson Mandela did it for South Africans and Julius Ayuk Tabe can also do it for Southern Cameroonians.
Cameroon Concord News: But it is held that Mr. Julius Ayuk Tabe and Co. are terrorists because of their role in the rebellion.
Dr Arrey Joachim: I think it is time to change the rhetoric. If the government continues to use the anti-terrorism law to eliminate its opponents, nobody will ever have confidence in it. Julius Ayuk Tabe and others arrested in the context of this conflict are not terrorists. They are freedom fighters who truly hold that the Yaounde system needs to change. They hold that Southern Cameroonians have been marginalized for too long and despite all the peaceful means used over the last four decades to draw the attention of the government to the sorry plight of the people of Southern Cameroons, the Yaounde government has continued to argue that there is no marginalization in Cameroon. The best any reasonable person can do is to listen to those who are complaining. Killing and jailing them will not cause the problem to go away. The anti-terrorism law should not be used by the government to push the country into conflicts that are sapping its economy of its vitality. For real development to take place in Cameroon, there must be peace. The government of Cameroon must live up to the expectations of its people. It must sow the seeds of peace and must understand that a government is not chosen for it to oppress its people, but to create the right conditions for its citizens to prosper and live life in a peaceful environment.
Cameroon Concord News: Will you attend the national dialogue in Yaounde?
Dr Arrey Joachim: Personally, I do not need to be physically present in Yaounde for me to contribute my ideas. I have been writing for decades to let the government know that something is broken and needs to be fixed. My role as a writer is to inform and admonish, where necessary. It is also up to the government to accept what I say or write. But it now knows that failure to listen could lead to the type of disaster the country has witnessed over the last three years. As far as I am concerned, the government should ensure that the Diaspora is properly represented. However, I don’t know how that will happen as Mr. Biya and his government are still threatening the Diaspora with arrests. The Yaounde government needs to fix its relationship with the Diaspora. The Diaspora has the resources to destabilize Cameroon for a long time. If the government really wants to succeed, then it must send delegations to London, Washington and Toronto to meet with those who can help Cameroon return to the path of peace. I know you will be surprised that I have mentioned Toronto and not Ottawa, but I would be quick to add that Toronto is where the money has been coming from. If you need to address the right crowd, then the Greater Toronto Area is where you should be, as many successful Cameroonians have settled in places like Brampton, Mississauga and Ajax which constitute the Greater Toronto Area and most of them are in the private sector and have the resources to keep Yaounde politicians awake all night.
Cameroon Concord News: Which other group of people would you recommend for the national dialogue?
Dr Arrey Joachim: I would recommend religious leaders and activists. These groups of people can make or mar the national dialogue. Religious leaders are much respected in Southern Cameroons. Their views should be taken seriously. Activists also have a huge following. If the government wants them to change their perspective and their rhetoric, then it must stretch a hand of friendship to journalists and activists. When you need peace, you must bend over backwards to have it.
Cameroon Concord News: Will you be willing to work for the government so that you can share your views with the authorities?
Dr Arrey Joachim: I will continue to use all the platforms available to me to share my perspective. I do not need to work for the government for my views to be known. I have been writing and will continue to do so for a long time. As a writer, my role is to inform and not to be a bureaucrat. There are other Cameroonians who can deliver more than me. I prefer to be on the sidelines to draw the government’s attention to mistakes that may cause our country to implode, but I will always do so in all objectivity and honesty. That is my role and I love to play it.
Cameroon Concord News: Thank you Dr. Joachim Arrey for sharing your thoughts with us.
Israel: Netanyahu cancels trip to UN over poor election results
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has canceled his planned visit to the United Nations General Assembly in New York amid a political deadlock following Tuesday’s general elections.
The decision was announced on Wednesday after both Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud Party and the centrist Blue and White alliance of former military chief Benny Gantz failed to garner enough seats to secure a parliamentary majority needed to form an administration.
With over 92 percent of the votes counted, Likud Party and Blue and White Party have respectively secured 31 and 32 parliamentary seats.
Both parties say they have already started negotiations to form a coalition while they’re waiting for the official results.
For a governing coalition of 61 legislators, each party would have to form a coalition with other parties, including the far-right party of former minister of military affairs Avigdor Lieberman, Yisrael Beiteinu, which, according to early results, has nine seats in the assembly.
Tuesday’s election was Israel’s second vote in five months. Netanyahu called the snap vote after he failed to win a majority in April’s elections.
Netanyahu, Gantz remain tied in vote
Netanyahu, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, was expected to address the General Assembly on September 26 as the 12th speaker, just three slots after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
According to the Israeli media, Foreign Minister Israel Katz will attend the event in his place.
Over the past decade, Netanyahu has made nine speeches at the annual UN gathering, most of them focused on Iran, including in 2012, when he showed a cartoon of a bomb in an attempt to portray the Islamic Republic as a threat.
Source: Presstv
Prime Minister Dion Ngute stresses role of media, youth to end the Ambazonia conflict
Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute on Tuesday underlined the “important role” of the media and youth in addressing the conflict in the country’s two restive English-speaking regions.
Ngute made the remarks in the capital city of Yaounde during consultative talks with the Cameroon National Youth Council (CNJC) and the Cameroon Union of Journalists (CUJ), which focused on a national dialogue to end the conflict in the restive regions in the southwest and northwest.
“We have expressed the wish to have youth representatives in every stage of this national dialogue. Cameroonian young people from all over the country will be involved, and we are also going to consult the diaspora to be part of this historic event,” Fatimatou Iyawa, CNJC’s president said after the meeting.
“For peace to be sustainable, the media has a very important role to play,” Martin Nkemngu, secretary general of the CUJ noted.
Ngute, who will chair the national dialogue, has been laying the groundwork for the event that is expected to be held by the end of September.
On Tuesday last week, Cameroonian President Paul Biya announced the national dialogue to facilitate a “return to normal life” in the two English-speaking regions.
Crisis has rocked the two regions for over two years after armed separatists declared the “independence” of the regions that constitute a minority in the largely French-speaking country.
Over 530,000 people have been displaced internally by the conflict, according to the United Nations.
Source: Xinhaunet
French Cameroun: Courts Paralyzed as Lawyers Strike Over Human Rights Violations
Cameroon’s law courts are at a standstill as lawyers for a third day Wednesday defy government threats and continue to protest what they say are widespread unbearable rights violations that include torture, illegal and prolonged detention of accused persons.
Observers say the strike may compromise the national dialogue ordered by President Paul Biya to solve the separatist conflict rocking the country.
Three hundred and eighty cases have been on the schedule at the Ekounou tribunal in Cameroon’s capital, Yaounde, since Sept. 16 and none of them have been heard.
Patrick Mbella, 45, who is in pre-trial detention for aggravated theft, says when he arrived at the court on Wednesday morning, his lawyer was not there.
Mbella says he does not know what to do after the judge asked that he be taken back to detention because the government had not succeeded in convincing the lawyers to call off their strike.
Peter Seme of the Cameroon Bar Association, outside the Ekounou tribunal, read out what he called a statement from the country’s lawyers explaining why they stopped working. He listed rights violations that included the cruel humiliation of detainees by authorities.
“The appearance of naked detainees at public hearings, the extortion of confessional statements through torture and fraud, prolonged illegal detentions, situations of abusive detentions despite release orders, silence concerning some complaints made by lawyers, the refusal to acknowledge receipt of correspondences with written proof thereof,” Seme said.
Members of the Cameroon Bar Association ignored a Sept. 5 resolution adopted during a meeting convened by the government for them to call off the strike action.
Cameroonian President Biya had given instructions for judicial processes to be sped up after a prison protest last July over poor conditions that included overcrowded detention centers.
A delegate at Cameroon’s Ministry of Justice, Jean de Dieu Momo, says nearly a million cases that were to be heard in courts all over the country this week have been affected. He offered reassurances to the lawyers, saying the government has called on the military, the police and others in the judicial system to immediately address the lawyers’ concerns.
“It is our job to make sure that the lawyers are independent, working freely without any disturbance from anyone. Lawyers, magistrates, military, people involved with security are together to work, to find out sustainable solutions,” Momo said.
Government officials expect the lawyers to call off their action soon.
Pierre Bayo, political analysts and lecturer at the University of Yaounde says the lawyers’ strike may affect the national dialogue Biya announced Sept. 10 to resolve issues in his country, which is in the midst of a separatist conflict that pits its French and English-speaking populations against each other.
He says most of the lawyers who initiated the strike had defended separatist leaders who had been sentenced to life in prison by a military tribunal and also Maurice Kamto, the man who claims he won last year’s elections – a victory he alleges was stolen by Biya.
“Besides the Anglophone problem today, even more acrimonious in this country is the Kamto political leadership,” Bayo said.
Many had expected Kamto – who is now facing eight charges amounting to treason at a military tribunal in Yaounde – and some separatist leaders to be granted clemency by Biya to take part in the national dialogue. Biya declined, saying justice would take its course.
Source: VOA
FECAFOOT: Shock candidate for Indomitable Lions job
A shock candidate has emerged along with Patrick Mboma to succeed Clarence Seedorf as the head coach of five-time African champions Cameroon.
Seedorf and his assistant Patrick Kluivert were sacked with immediate effect after their dismal AFCON 2019 showing, in which Cameroon arrived as reigning champions.
The lacklustre displays from the Indomitable Lions and alleged fallout with key figures in the dressing room was said to be the downfall of the legendary Dutchman – but his successor has yet to be found.
While iconic former striker Patrick Mboma has expressed interest in the role amongst ‘several’ other applicants for the job, it’s been claimed by Afrique News, that former Brighton manager Gus Poyet is the front-runner for the role.
The Uruguayan, who holds no experience of African football managed AEK Athens, Real Betis, Shanghai Shenhua and Bordeaux since his ill-fated spell with Sunderland in the Premier League.
Frenchman Pierre Le Chantre, who won the AFCON title with West African nation in 2000, is also believed to have applied for the job.
Source: Kickoff.com
Asylum requests down in developed countries
Developed countries received sharply fewer asylum applications last year, a report said Wednesday, as the world remains gripped in a migrant crisis fuelled by wars and economic hardship.
Applications for asylum in the 36-country Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) dropped 34 percent to 1.09 million last year from 1.65 million at the height of the migrant flow to Europe in 2016.
“Because of the drop in asylum applications, the number of registered refugees also declined” from about 900,000 permits issued in 2016 to 700,000 in 2017, said the OECD.
Refugees represented 14 percent of permanent migrants to the OECD last year, the report said. Most were from Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and Venezuela.
Despite the decline in asylum seekers, humanitarian migration remained at a “historically high level”, said the bloc, whose members are from Europe, the Americas and the Pacific — many of them key migrant destinations.
“While it is not the main channel of immigration to any OECD country… it is the second-largest channel of migration to Austria, Germany, Sweden and the United States.”
The report said OECD members received 5.3 million new permanent migrants in 2018, a two-percent rise over 2017, mainly due to families joining a growing number of expat workers.
There was also a rise of 11 percent in the number of temporary workers to about 4.9 million in 2017, the latest year for which data was available.
– Don’t ignore fears –
Migration has been a key issue for figures including US President Donald Trump, Italian ex-interior minister Matteo Salvini and French far-right leader Marine le Pen, with many countries seeing a sharp shift to the right ascribed partly to anti-immigrant sentiment.
“In a number of countries, a common public perception is that migration is uncontrolled and costly,” the OECD said.
While there was “little evidence to support these views,” it would be a mistake to ignore people’s migration fears, the report warned.
The report expressed concern that people tend to confuse illegal and lawful movements, and to view all migration as driven by indigence, it said.
It said communication needs to be improved, noting a recent European study found that 60 percent of respondents did not feel they were well informed about immigration and integration.
“And EU respondents, on average, overestimate the number of migrants from outside Europe by a factor of two,” it said, adding half thought, wrongly, that there were more illegal migrants than legal ones.
– British emigration –
Last year, the United States was the main destination for asylum seekers in the OECD, with 254,000 applications, a drop of 23.3 percent. Germany was second with 162,000 applications, and Turkey in third place with 83,000.
Poland was the top destination for temporary migrant workers with more than 1.1 million people, mainly Ukrainians, followed by the United States with almost 700,000 temporary labourers in 2017.
On average, over 68 percent of migrants in the OECD were employed, said the report, but in Italy and France, only about 40 percent had jobs.
Most temporary workers were employed either as low-skilled workers in farming, construction, manufacturing and freight transport, or in very high-skilled fields such as IT or health.
The United States saw a drop of five percent with 1.1 million new permanent residents in 2017, the report noted, and refused a higher number of temporary labour permits.
Neighbouring Mexico, which Trump has pressured to hold people migrating northward to escape violence and poverty in Central America, saw a 30-percent rise in asylum applicants.
Most were from Honduras, Venezuela and El Salvador.
Britain, caught up in a troubled exit from the European Union, saw a 0.4 percent rise in its own residents emigrating to OECD countries, a total of 131,000 last year, said the organisation.
Most went to Spain, Australia, and Germany.
Source: AFP
Cameroon Concord Man of the Year 2019: Your Nominations
In December 2019, Cameroon Concord News Group shall be announcing the Man of the Year!! We are asking our readers and subscribers to nominate their own personal Man of the Year.
Over the years, we of the Concord Group have seen a few same float to the top!! However, it is vital to observe that ever since we started the Man of the Year Award in 1999 in Essen Germany, the variety of responses from our readers have been surprising and truthfully, a little touching.
Here are some of our favourites for 2019:Prime Minister Dion Ngute, the Ambazonia leader Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, the commander of the Ambazonia Restoration Forces in the Lebialem County, Field Marshal, Journalist Mimi Mefo and Prof Maurice Kamto!!
Let your voice be heard!! Nominate a man or woman with solid personal achievements for the Cameroon Concord Man of the Year Award 2019
By Chi Prudence Asong
President Trump Impeachment: House Democrats grill former campaign manager
The first impeachment hearing of US President Donald Trump by the House Judiciary Committee has devolved into chaos after his former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski declined to field questions posed by the Democrats on the panel.
During the hearing on Tuesday, Lewandowski — a former aide and confidant to Trump — praised his boss and repeatedly tangled with Democrats looking to confront him.
Lewandowski, who pledged in his opening statement to be cooperative and forthright, repeatedly refused to answer questions about conversations with the president and repeatedly pointed to White House claims of executive privilege — even though he never worked in the White House.
Lewandowski was the first impeachment witness to appear before the committee since former Special Counsel Robert Mueller briefed the committee about his inquiry.
Meuller’s investigation was focused on alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and Trump’s potential obstruction of justice.
Trump had ordered two former White House aides not to testify before the committee.
“I think that this fake Russia collusion narrative is the greatest crime committed against the American people in our generation, if not ever,” Lewandowski said after a GOP member gave him the floor to describe the consequences of the Mueller probe. “Members of certain bodies refuse to accept those election results.”
Representative Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) called Trump’s former campaign manager a “loyal soldier” who “chickened out” of carrying through with the president’s orders, while Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, claimed that the witness was there to “participate in a cover-up.”
Republicans on the panel described the hearing as both partisan and trivial.
At the end of the hearing, Judiciary Committee chairman Jerrold Nadler censured Lewandowski and told the former Trump campaign manager that, “Your behavior in this hearing room has been completely unacceptable.”
Source: Presstv